Radiology gains ACR accreditation renewal

1/06/2011 - The Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences recently received a renewal of accreditation from the American College of Radiology (ACR).

The renewal allows Vanderbilt, a longtime accredited facility, to be well prepared for the upcoming Medicare requirement that all programs be accredited by January 2012.

“This provides assurances to our patients, physicians and the general public that what we are doing here meets certain agreed upon standards,” said Jeremy Kaye, M.D., the Carol D. and Henry P. Pendergrass professor and chair of the Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences.

“We have been undergoing this certification process for years. It is truly a quality assurance method that primarily says we are doing quality work and doing our jobs correctly and safely,” added Kaye.

The ACR is an independent, CMS-designated accrediting body that oversees more than 20,000 facilities around the country.

It is a professional society with the purpose of improving the health of patients by maximizing the value of radiology and radiologists.

The accreditation is granted for a three-year period.

The extensive certification process looks at the equipment, assesses the image quality and reviews the qualifications and credentials of technologists, radiologists and medical physicists.

The evaluation also looks at patient and employee safety as well as quality control and assurance of all imaging modalities including CT, MRI, nuclear medicine, PET, ultrasound and mammography.